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Defamation (Amendment) Bill 2024: Second Stage (19 Sep 2024)

Brendan Howlin: As legislators, we approach the whole area of defamation law reform guided by two constitutional values. First, there is the citizen's right to protection and vindication of his or her good name under Article 42.3. Second, there is the right of the citizen to express freely his or her convictions and opinions, which is guaranteed under Article 46.1. The Bill before the House must be judged...

Courts, Civil Law, Criminal Law and Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2024: Committee and Remaining Stages (10 Jul 2024)

Brendan Howlin: On amendment No. 1 to amendment No. 3, I am disappointed the Minister is not accepting even the amendments to the amendment, as opposed to the general view from this side of the House that she might delay. If this proposal had been fleshed out and ready to go, it would have been included in the published Bill from the start. It arrived after the Bill had been published and after the Second...

Inquiry into the death of Shane O'Farrell: Motion [Private Members] (9 Jul 2024)

Brendan Howlin: I commend Sinn Féin on bringing this really important issue before us for debate again. Like others, I acknowledge the presence in the Gallery of the O'Farrell family, whose thirst for justice is boundless and whose determination makes it incumbent on all of us to respond in kind. The justice system of any nation is the bedrock on which citizens rely for their basic liberty and...

Gender-Based Violence: Motion [Private Members] (3 Jul 2024)

Brendan Howlin: This House and this country is deeply indebted to those brave victims of gender-based crime who have waived their right to anonymity to tell their own deeply personal stories. I mean women like Natasha O'Brien, who is here present and who I had the privilege of meeting this morning, and Bláthnaid Raleigh, who, again, bravely told her story on national radio. They have given a voice to...

Courts, Civil Law, Criminal Law and Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2024: Second Stage (2 Jul 2024)

Brendan Howlin: I will share my time with Deputy Nash. This miscellaneous provisions Bill touches briefly on a broad range of unrelated issues that have only one thing in common, namely, they are all under the purview of the Department of Justice. The Bill does not deal in any detailed or systematic way with any of these important issues. There is nothing wrong, in principle, with that approach where the...

Defence (Amendment) Bill 2024: Report and Final Stages (12 Jun 2024)

Brendan Howlin: Well, let us have that discussion and see how we can do things better. I do not intend to press my amendment. I take on board exactly what the Tánaiste has said but would like to hear from him whether he might share with us his ideas when they are fleshed out a little bit better and before they are presented to us and we are told that amendments are wonderful but are not accepted and...

Extension of Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2021: Motion (29 May 2024)

Brendan Howlin: As the Minister of State told the House, this is the latest in a series of motions. One has passed through this House every six months since 2021. The purpose of the motion is not controversial - to allow for a continuation of the current outdoor seating and drinking regime. Some such regime of some order would and should be an ordinary part of our ordinary regulated life. Until the...

Neutrality and the Triple Lock: Motion [Private Members] (29 May 2024)

Brendan Howlin: This is an important and timely debate on two issues that matter to the Irish people and I commend People for Profit-Solidarity on tabling the debate. I want to deal with each issue separately, the first of which is the announcement by the Tánaiste, which I have to say was a surprise and I was in the House the time it was made. He stated that it is his intention to alter the...

Local Authority Housing Maintenance and Repair: Motion [Private Members] (28 May 2024)

Brendan Howlin: ...and so many of our young people are looking abroad because they cannot find affordable accommodation at home. Day after day, week after week, all of us are getting emails and have people calling to our offices talking about the housing crisis. Things are truly desperate. This is obviously a huge topic. It has many facets. We have concentrated on the supply issue, correctly because...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: 20th Anniversary of the 2004 EU Enlargement: Mr. Bertie Ahern (8 May 2024)

Brendan Howlin: I welcome iar-Thaoiseach, Mr. Ahern, to our committee. He has an important perspective to give us. I was privileged to serve together with him through his time both as a Member of the Dáil but also as a member of the Cabinet. I wish to ask a few questions, the first focusing on the political. The European Union started off as a economic entity. It is an economic community....

Defence (Amendment) Bill 2024: Second Stage (2 May 2024)

Brendan Howlin: I would say it will be something that will be repeated daily by everybody. This new entity is to be responsible for overseeing and monitoring the human resources of the Defence Forces and reporting to the Minister, as the body deems appropriate. Its duties are set out in the new section 322 on page 14 of the Bill. This includes "the recruitment of members of the Defence Forces", which is a...

Seanad Public Consultation Committee: The Future of Local Democracy: Discussion (Resumed) (29 Feb 2024)

Brendan Howlin: ...responsibility for local government at Cabinet level. The comment of the rapporteur that we are all very recent does not quite apply in my case. But in truth, local government impacts constantly on the work of every Oireachtas Member. More recently, in my role as Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, I had an overall platform on local government and its interaction with national...

Seanad Public Consultation Committee: The Future of Local Democracy: Discussion (Resumed) (29 Feb 2024)

Brendan Howlin: It is no wonder that we have not reformed local government because there are so many different views. That is a perennial issue. If I may put it bluntly in this august Chamber, it is more like the discussions on Seanad reform that have been going on for as long as I have been here. Everyone is in favour of it but we cannot get around to agreeing on what reforms should be made. There are a...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: European Elections 2024, Voting Rights and Combating Disinformation: Discussion (Resumed) (28 Feb 2024)

Brendan Howlin: ...are very broad and multifaceted. In her introduction, Ms O'Connell described us as "distinguished" Members of Parliament. It reminds me of a trip I made with Barry Andrews, who is now an MEP, to an Irish Aid project in Africa. We were introduced by our hosts as "extinguished" Members of Parliament. Perhaps we will be in the future. I will drill down into a few issues, some of which...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: European Elections 2024, Voting Rights and Combatting Disinformation: Discussion (21 Feb 2024)

Brendan Howlin: I welcome Mr. O'Leary back to his old bailiwick, where he was a distinguished public servant, and also his colleagues. For clarity, the Electoral Commission is a brand new organisation. Can Mr. O'Leary give us an indication of the Electoral Commission's current staffing and the allocation of those staff to the various tasks? It seems that under the Act, the Electoral Commission has a...

Tribunal of Inquiry into certain matters relating to the Complaints Processes in the Defence Forces: Motion (24 Jan 2024)

Brendan Howlin: I welcome the establishment of a tribunal of inquiry. It has been a long time coming. It comes due to the tireless and courageous work of the Women of Honour group, who have campaigned relentlessly and effectively to have this statutory inquiry put into place and who have been since joined by others, whom those of us who attended the briefing in the AV room yesterday heard. A tribunal of...

Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2023: Second Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2023)

Brendan Howlin: I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Noonan, for his indulgence. I wanted to make a few comments on the legislation before the House and the fact that this is the product of a new entity, the Electoral Commission, that we have been long promised and has been long talked about. It is great to actually have it in existence. All other electoral boundaries that were presented, and by...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: Future Treaty Change in the European Union: Discussion (15 Nov 2023)

Brendan Howlin: I thank our witnesses. As was said, the opening statements covered a broad range of issues, many of which we have touched on with various speakers in this committee in recent years. I will pose several questions on Professor Barrett's paper, but I would like both Professor Barrett and Dr. Colfer to respond. On the comments Professor Barrett made on the EMU, basically saying that because...

Post-European Council Meeting: Statements (8 Nov 2023)

Brendan Howlin: I see. I think we are all of one mind that the first imperative, as I said repeatedly in my contribution, is to have a ceasefire to stop the killing right now. I am interested in hearing the Minister of State's view on that. It is clear the Taoiseach's efforts at the European Council to achieve a consensus calling for a ceasefire from the EU 27 have not worked. There are strongly held...

Investment in Football: Motion [Private Members] (12 Jul 2023)

Brendan Howlin: I commend Deputy Ó Ríordáin, whose passion for this subject has been evidenced today. We have been listening to it as a parliamentary party for quite some time. His passion has convinced us to give very precious Private Members' time to what is truly an important issue for every community and every one of our constituencies. We have in this motion an opportunity for every...